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The Mortal Vow
Overview The Mortal Vow is a wide spread religion throughout the continent Deurlyth, spreading to each and every clan. Even though a large majority of the Deurlen people believe in the teachings of The Mortal Vow, the religion is largely unregulated and disorganized. Of the very few self proclaimed "Priests" of The Mortal Vow, most if not all of them serve more as Folklorists and scribes of Deurlen history. Practices Many shrines within the villages and dwellings of the Deurlen people are dedicated to the wills of The Divines, powerful beings that protect and give life to the people of Deurlyth. As there are no specific churches built for the purpose of Divine worship, much of the practices of the followers of The Mortal Vow happen within the daily lives of each and every Deurlen person, such as sacrifice, depicting the imagery of death and life within boundary of the home and placing certain objects at shrines across Deurlyth. History Historically, the Deurlen people have always believed in the teachings of The Mortal Vow, as it has survived centuries of oral tradition. Many changes have occurred within the religion since the dawn of the Deurlen people, many Divines have been popularized or have been forgotten and some practices held in high regard have died out entirely within the culture. The Divines The Deurlen are polytheistic, believing in a wide array of gods for nearly every purpose. In fact, most Deurlen are not aware of every supposed "Divine." Instead, Deurlen tend to focus on worshiping a few specific divines that fit their personality and appease the others through constant sacrifice. Sacrifice Deurlen perform sacrifice for the Divines to show their devotion to them rather than their physical life. While sacrifice is usually only done to animals, fanatics and darker clans have been known to sacrifice other humans. Well Known Divines These few Divines are well known across Deurlyth, many Shrines in homes and on pathways depict the deities as the hands that intervene in mortal affairs. While these are the quite well known or central Divines, there are still many more Divines with Shrines across Deurlyth. The most well known Divines in Deurlyth: Patriarchal Divine - Éag - Divine of the Eternal, Unknown and Mortal Soul SHRINES * Depicted as male * No eyes * Holds a scale used to weigh the Mortal Soul * Common name 'Death' Worship * Takes human skulls as trophies, in folklore it is said The Headless Rider arrives to collect the skull and soul along with it. * Hanging bird, sheep and wolf skulls above doorways appeases Éag, it represents the acknowledgement of the boundary between life (home) and death (outside world). Ghaois - Divine of the Wellspring, Wealth, Poetry and Wisdom * Depicted as male or female * Generally cloaked * Holds a leather bound book * Common name 'Watcher of the Wellspring' Worship * Takes a bit of Arcane Essence as a tribute at all shrines of Ghaois. * Blue orchids wrapped in a linen bundle placed at the shrine of Ghaois. Saol - Divine of the Hunt, Moon, Woodland Creatures * Depicted as female * Wears a wooden longbow, with an Ivory arrow nocked * Common name 'Moonlight's Maiden' Worship * Bits of dried animal hide and antlers placed at shrines of Saol. * A single arrow made of animal bone and feather brought on a hunt is said to bring good luck. Scríobhaí and Maisitheoir - Divines of Travel, boundaries, Nights stars, commerce, thieves and birds SHRINE ONLY * Depicted as either twin birds or humans, either gender * When depicted as birds, they each hold a gold piece in their beak * Common name 'Thieves Prophets' Worship * Gold pieces and items of value placed at shines Scríobhaí and Maisitheoir is said to increase wealth throughout life. * A single gold piece is to be buried in front of the entrance to the home, this is said to ward away thieves. Athrú - Divine of the Harvest, Hearth, Homestead and Good Health * Depicted as female * Is usually depicted wearing a long white gown * Long red hair * Holds a bundle of herbs and berries * Common name 'Maiden of the Threshold' Worship * Throwing aromatic herbs into the fireplace at the end of each season is said to bring a good harvest each year. * Holding a small feast for neighbors and clan members at the end of a good harvest is said to keep all who attend in good health for the coming year. * Sacrificing healthy animals like sheep and cows to Athrú is said to bring good fortune to the Clan for coming years. Lámh - Divine of Prophetic Guidance and Dreams * Depicted as an ancient looking male * Long grey cloak and beard * Usually depicted with deep blue eyes * Common name 'Hand of Guidance' Worship * Placing essence within the sleeping spot is said to bring good dreams that warn of droughts and disaster. Cosán - Divine of Pilgrimage, Weather, Rivers and Destinations * Depicted as a young looking male * Hooded cloak wrapped in furs * Carries a travelers pack with a lantern attached * Common name 'Travelers Path' Worship * Paying respects to lost/killed travellers is commonplace among those who worship Cosán, it is said that doing this guides their soul into the Realm of the Eternal peacefully. * Helping out families or Clans that help you in their journey in return is commonplace as well, ranging from simple farm duty to helping the Family/Clan for quite awhile with many reasonable requests. Droch-rùnach - Undivine of Sin, Darkness and Evil Emotions''' SHRINES' * Depicted with pure white skin, and the tongue of a serpent. * One eye always closed * Is said to appear nearby/cause disasters in threes * Holds a small locked box wrapped in chains * Common name 'Undivine' or ‘Unspoken One’ Uair - Divine of the Youthful, Worn, Day Time, Night Time and Unreachable Depths * Depicted as male * Either old or young * Common name 'Sky's Constant' Worship * Watching both the sun rise and sun set is said to bring a long good life. * Wearing jewelry like bracelets and necklace charms in the shape of the sun intertwined with the moon is said to bring the wearer the opportunity to complete all goals in life before death. Díothú - Divine of War, Battle, Anger and the Burdened Soul * Depicted as male * Full blood red body paint * Large war axe decorated with feathers * Common name 'Wrath of the Mortal' Worship * Paying respects to those who have killed others or harmed others greatly, and praying for their soul to be allowed into the Realm of the Eternal is said to bring solace to their mortal soul. * Sacrificing others to Díothú is said to appease him greatly, though only more sinister clans believe this to be true, many Deurlen people believe that this idea of sacrificing others is an afront to the Divines and that it is only to justify the sickness that they hold within them. '''Faeries' Many Deurlen people do not believe in Faeries and regard them as myth or simple tales told through the generations. However, if a Deurlen person does believe in Faeries they are usually taught this by older Deurlen clansmen from even older Clans across Deurlyth. Mist Gates A link between the three realms; The Realm of the Eternal, The Looking Glass Realm and The Mortal Realm. Mist Gates are a powerful link created by Humans with the help of Faeries during some time in the unrecorded history of Deurlyth. Some stories tell of a Faerie who fell in love with a human and attempted to make the journey over to The Mortal Realm, giving up their immortality and crossing over. Other tales depict a human, stricken with grief over the death of a loved one, capturing a Wraith, and in an attempt to bring back their loved one asking for a way to cross over. It is said that the Wraith helped the human to create a Mist gate, from various flowers deep within a forest and instead of bringing back their loved one, cast the human into The Realm of the Eternal. In all stories depicting a human creating a Mist Gate, it always includes a special flower located in the middle of a large circle of different flowers and herbs. This flower has yet to be identified, but is always described as an overly large daisy with a blood red center. The Looking Glass Realm The Looking Glass Realm is the Plane in which Faeries dwell. Parallel to The Mortal Realm there are many ways in which Faeries can cross over, and very few where a Human can cross over into The Looking Glass Realm, both of which include Mist Gates. The Looking Glass Realm takes its name from the the nature of The Looking Glass Realm itself, with its true origin and full power just out of a mortals reach, more often obscured than not. The Looking Glass Realm has gone by many other names throughout the history of Deurlyth including "The Otherworld". Many stories depict The Realm as the gate between The Mortal Plane and The Realm of the Eternal, many figures have been depicted as the keepers of of said gate, including Éag. Divine of The Eternal. If a Deurlen person believes in Faeries from this plane, they tend to regard them as Minor Deities. The Divine of the Mortal Vow are noted as having full power over all three realms, doing as they please between them. Category:Religions